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A Palestinian mother who lost her son and an Israeli daughter who lost her parents to the decades-long conflict between their nations shared their stories Monday night, urging peace, reconciliation and understanding.
Layla Alsheikh is a Palestinian mother whose 6-month-old son died in 2002 of health complications after an Israeli tear gas attack. Mor Ynon is an Israeli mother living in Tel Aviv whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks.
The dialogue was presented by Parents Circle – Families Forum, a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization made up of over 800 families who have lost loved ones in the conflict. Founded in 1995, PCFF promotes restorative justice, healing and non-violence, and is currently on a two-week college tour across the United States. The event at Stanford’s Memorial Church was sponsored by the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life and other campus organizations.
According to Lior Ben-Zvi, PCFF’s development and communications manager who also served as moderator of the event, stories are a way to cut through the dominant political discourse and reveal partnership between Israelis and Palestinians.
“Everyone who’s part of the parent circle is there because of their personal story,” said Ben-Zvi in an interview. “Hearing personal narratives helps people connect in ways that maybe they wouldn’t otherwise, both for the person that’s sharing the story and for the person that’s hearing it.”
During the program, the event’s organizers invited attendees to step outside their echo chamber and listen to stories that don’t fit neatly into the conflict’s siloed narratives. The event also featured a performance by Stanford Talisman, a cello performance from Stanford medical student Melanie Ambler, a Q&A session and a closing multi-faith prayer.
Both Alsheikh and Ynon described the immense pain of their loss — like a “bullet to the heart,” Alsheikh said. For 16 years, Alsheikh avoided all contact with Israelis. But at a friend’s urging, she reluctantly agreed to attend PCFF, where she was astounded to see Israelis and Palestinians laugh together. Eventually, she too was touched and moved by the community.
“It’s not about comparing the pain. It’s not about who’s right and wrong,” Alsheikh said during the event. “It’s about understanding.”
Ynon spent the evening of Oct. 6, 2023, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkat with her family, including her parents, who departed after an evening of eating, dancing and games. It was the last time she saw them alive.
Before the Oct. 7 attacks, Ynon had worked in tech and lived in a self-described Israeli “bubble.” She never imagined she would become a peace activist.
“I feel that I lost a lot, and I miss my parents very much,” she said during the event. “But I feel that I’ve gained a lot,” referring to her community at PCFF, which she joined after quitting her job in the aftermath of the attacks.
Both women spoke about the choice to take a path that does not perpetuate violence, but affirms every person’s shared humanity.
Lynde Folsom, a Stanford doctoral student who attended the event, came to listen to the stories and has been reflecting on the divisions within the university.
“We’re looking for ways to connect with each other, and it is difficult for us as grads, but also as students, also as kids, to learn how to see light when there is so much darkness, to find some spark in each other,” Folsom said. “And honestly, I think that’s what they demonstrated so well.”
Folsom’s favorite moment of the evening came when someone asked the speakers what was hardest about addressing an American audience. The two mothers exchanged a look, embraced and began to stifle laughter. After a moment, Alsheikh said the hardest part was giving Americans hope — prompting laughter at the irony that those who had endured so much were expected to inspire it.
“Her response was….‘We’re the ones giving you hope?’” Folsom said. “And it is a moment to think, wow, what has happened such that that could be the case? And I think they were successful, as mothers tend to be.”
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